Workstations

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Why Do I Need a Workstation?

Simply put, workstations are computers equipped with specialised, professional-grade components optimised for handling even the heaviest, most resource-intensive workloads. Think computer-aided design, realistic 3-D rendering, complex data analysis, 4K video editing, machine learning, and more - not basic day-to-day tasks, office applications, and gaming.

Many businesses and self-employed people choose desktop workstations for their professional computers as they're built to withstand heavy, round-the-clock operation in professional settings and feature high computing power - higher than what ordinary desktops and laptops can offer. When you invest in a workstation, you know you'll be getting a computer capable of running whatever you throw at it with outstanding performance.

What's the Difference Between a Workstation and a Desktop?

While you can certainly squeeze a lot of performance out of today's mainstream, consumer processors and graphics cards, the professional-grade components found in workstations are on another level of performance.

A modern 16-core/32-thread AMD Ryzen 9 processor, for example, is more than enough to power a top-of-the-line gaming PC. In comparison, AMD's workstation-centric Threadripper range boasts CPUs with up to 96 cores and a whopping 192 threads (hence the name), delivering several times the performance of domestic-level hardware.

So, it's fair to say that desktop workstations are more than just high-spec gaming PCs in plain, office-friendly chassis. With all these threads at your disposal, you'll be able to make quick work of the heavily multi-threaded workloads common in professional settings.

What Classifies a Desktop Workstation as a Workstation?

Workstations, like any computer, have CPUs, GPUs, and all the rest of it. What sets workstations apart from your average desktop or laptop, however, is that their components are often of a higher quality and come with exclusive features only professionals would really benefit from, things like: ECC RAM, ultra-high-end graphics cards with massive amounts of VRAM, and specialised inputs and outputs.

ECC RAM

Stability is essential in professional settings. A whole day's worth of work could potentially be lost to a rouge memory error otherwise. That's why workstations use ECC (error-correction code) RAM. As the name implies, ECC RAM protects against data corruption by automatically detecting and correcting memory errors before they can affect the rest of your system. As a result, crashes and downtime are kept to a minimum. This error-correction is facilitated by an additional chip on ECC RAM DIMMs, which is what separates ECC RAM from standard, non-ECC RAM.

Professional Graphics Cards

The professional graphics cards found in workstations usually feature 'fully-enabled' graphics processing units for unrivalled performance in GPU-accelerated applications. What's more, these professional graphics cards come equipped with heaps more VRAM, in some cases double that of even the highest-end consumer graphics cards. Many professional workloads will gobble up whatever amount of VRAM you have. So, the more VRAM you have, the better. And hardware is only one half of the equation. You can learn more about professional graphics cards' software here.

Will a Workstation Cost Me More?

Crammed full of professional-grade components, workstations will almost certainly set you back more money than ordinary consumer desktops and laptops. If you earn a living using your computer, however, it's worth investing in a workstation. Workstations are the 'workhorses' of many industries, providing the computing power needed to produce top-quality work as fast and as efficiently as possible. And speaking of laptops, for those who want the performance of a workstation but in a portable form-factor, be sure to check out our range of mobile workstations.

Workstations at Ebuyer

Here at Ebuyer, we stock a range of workstations from all the top brands, including Dell, Lenovo, and Apple.

If you want your new workstation by tomorrow, next-day delivery is available. We also offer finance packages for added flexibility. And don't forget the Ebuyer Price Match Promise - we won't be beaten on price.